As pronounced as it is, you certainly should be able to ID the location with a stethoscope. You just need another set of hands (or ears) to assist you in your quest, IMO.

The need for the tack welded "U" joints leads me to believe that something is so out of sorts (balance? bent?) that the normal clips won't hold in their locations, thus the apparent "fix". I'd look closer at the drive shaft front / spline to trans relationship.

I'm thinking about pulling the rear drive shaft from the t-case and running it. It should be high enoght that oil will stay inside...for a quick test anyway. This would either confirm driveline or tranny/engine.

ok.. I ran the system without the rear driveshaft. Smooooth sailing with no driveline attached. Not a single vibration, shudder squeek, or peep. Im thinking this means a couple of things.
1- Drive line is severly out of balance or some other issue driveshaft/u-joint related.
2- There is not enough load on the transfer case / transmission / engine to make the problem appear and it has nothing to do with anything behind the trasnfer case
3- The rear end is the source and is somehow louder at the transfer case then the rear end itself using a mechanics stethescope.

I am going to take the driveline in and see if its out of balance. Rule option one out....actually im hoping thats the cause and this is the end of my issues. Gut feeling is that this is not it, however I am hoping my gut is wrong this time. It appears as thouh whoever removed the u-joints last has messed up the retainer grooves to the point where there is metal removed and there is no lip / groove for the retainers to catch...hence the spot welds....could be a factor in my issues.... we shall see.

If it balences ok I will somehow have to try and rule out the rear end.

after closer inspection of the pics..I think there may be something to the assembling of the -joints. In a few pics you can see that the caps do not seem to be fully inserted into the yokes...which may be why the clips are tacked inplace. If the yoke is not centered with the shaft I could see this causing some major issues. Will this driveshaft even be servicable in the future or should I be looking at a used one in better shape? (great..more $$ to spend)
Here is a few pics to check out...It wasn't done all that long ago as I can see the white markings on the yoke and shaft to mark orientation (atleast something was done right).

Any chnace anyone has a driveshaft from a 1999-2004 2WD 4x4 tracker or GV they want to sell?? Can't seem to find any around the wrecker yards here and the one I have is butchard up good. Tackwelds wont just chisel off and there are other issues....

Other members here w/similar rear drive shaft issues have also reported that good / used original style shafts are scarce and new units cost prohibitive.

Several guys ended up at Drive Line Specialty shops for existing shaft repair and balancing and in at least two cases, a complete new one piece shaft made from scratch. I can't fully endorse the "one piece" shafts, as I think that the Zuki engineers felt the need to design them in two-piece (clearance issues? drive line angle needs?) but they reportedly work, at least near term.

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